Want Free Ice Cream? Start Nabbing 'We Buy Houses' Signs Off the Streets of Cleveland

Ward 13 Councilman Kris Harsh has a proposition for you: Take down as many "We Buy Houses" signs off of Cleveland's streets as possible in the next two weeks.

Those who take the most? He'll buy you ice cream.

"Here’s the deal," Harsh said in a video on Twitter/X from his driveway on Tuesday. "I’m gonna start a bounty for these signs. Whoever can get the most of these signs off the streets by the end of April gets Honey Hut on me."

"You take one of these signs down," he reiterated, holding a sign he presumably nabbed himself. "Show it to me. Winner gets Honey Hut.”

Harsh, among other ideological strongholds, has long been a stickler for bad housing policy, especially any exchange of property dealt mostly in cash. And those attractive to the out-of-state investor type taking advantage of Northeast Ohio's famously affordable market.

"We Buy Houses" is a universal ad slogan you've seen plastered on signs dotting utility poles for brokers and buyers in hot pursuit of homes bought on the cheap, hunting for a nice commission. (An actual business, too.) And typically from homeowners itching to sell as quickly as possible.

"Oh, it's almost like always a scam," Harsh told Scene in a phone call. "They're trying to lowball people who are, you know, in a pickle who don't think they can take their time to get rid of something. So they offer them below market value and then flip it to an investor. That's pretty much it."

Though the councilman said his "April Challenge" had no relation to the Residents First overhaul of Cleveland's housing code that he was a main backer of, it's clear that Harsh's bounty matches the overall ire of City Hall's Department of Building & Housing.

Approved in February, the legal makeover aims to deter bad actor investor, and created a Local Agent in Charge clause that requires any out-of-state owner—in California or Switzerland—to hire a local manager that Building & Housing could take to court, if need be. (It's yet to be determined if that agent will show up in court or not.)

So far, Harsh said a few likeminded folks at City Hall sent him photos of signs they'd gathered. He still hopes his bounty on the "We Buy Houses" signs reach anyone in the city who's up for an ice cream sundae. Or two.

"I could switch it up to, like, Old Brooklyn cheese if, like, they don't like ice cream," Harsh said. "Or if they're lactose intolerant, we could go down to Metropolitan or Six Shooter Coffee or something.

"I don't care," he added. "As long as they take these signs down."
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